Olympic Stadium and Park, Seoul

1988

Much as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics helped usher in a new postwar era for Japan, the 1988 Seoul Games—the second Games held in Asia—did the same for a newly industrialized South Korea. They featured big performances by Greg Louganis and Janet Evans, but also big controversy, as Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson became the first world-famous athlete to be disqualified for testing positive for steroids. The centerpiece of the Jamsil Sports Complex, the dynamically curved Seoul Olympic Stadium was designed by Japanese-trained architect Kim Swoo Geun to evoke the profile of a Joseon Dynasty porcelain vase.